There have been quite a few questions about this recently so here is a quick FAQ for anyone who's confused about how the Stream functionality works...

Q. Which TiVos have a built in TiVo Stream?A. The Roamio Plus and Pro have built in TiVo Streams, the Roamio Basic and all Premiere units require the standalone TiVo Stream box.

Q. Can the built in Stream in the Roamio Plus/Pro stream from other TiVos on your network?A. Yes. The built in TiVo Stream works exactly like the standalone TiVo Stream. It can stream from any other Roamio or Premiere on your network.

Q. What's the difference between the standalone TiVo Stream and the one built into the Roamio Plus/Pro?A. Nothing. The hardware is identical. The Roamio Plus/Pro simply include it on the same motherboard as the TiVo hardware. The internal Stream even has it's own MAC address and uses it's own IP address on your network

Q. How many streams can you have going simultaneously?A. The TiVo Stream can transcode and stream up to 4 programs simultaneously. The number of streams you can get from a single TiVo depends on the type. Romaio units seem to have no limit. Premiere units support a maximum of 3 streams.

Q. Can I have multiple TiVo Streams on the same network?A. Yes. When you go into the setup section of the app it detects that you have multiple TiVo Stream devices and asks you to select which one to use. However each TiVo Stream supports up to 4 simultaneous streams so for most users having multiple TiVo Streams is unnecessary.

Q. Which devices can be used to stream?A. iOS and Android devices are both supported, however the download functionality is currently only available on iOS.

Q. Can I stream outside my home network?A. Yes. Unprotected shows can be streamed outside your home network as long as you are connected to a wifi network. Support for 3G/LTE streaming is supported on Android but not iOS.

Q. Can I stream live TV?A. Kind of. When you pick something from the live TV guide to watch via the Stream it actually starts a recording of that program and then starts streaming the recording to your device. You can not take over a live tuner like you can with the Mini.

Q. Can I stream protected content?A. Anything can be streamed inside your home. Only unprotected content can be streamed outside the home.

Q. Can I stream shows from MPEG-4/H.264 channels?A. No. When you attempt to stream a program that was recorded in the MPEG-4/H.264 format you will get an error. TiVo is aware of this problem and is working on a fix.

Q. Can I download shows so I can watch them later without a network connection?A. On iOS yes. Unprotected shows can be downloaded to your device for watching offline. Android does not yet have the ability to download shows, but TiVo says it's coming.

Q. Do I have to leave the app running for it to download shows?A. On iOS yes. A limitation of iOS requires that the device be left on with the TiVo app running in the foreground for it to download. If you shut off the device, close the TiVo app or switch to another app the download will pause until you bring the TiVo app back to the foreground. Android does not yet have download capabilities so it's unclear if this same restriction will apply.

Q. Can I use AirPlay or HDMI cable to play streamed recordings on a TV?A. No. The app does not allow AirPlay (iOS) or HDMI output. However there is a hack you can apply if your iOS device is jail broken that allows both. Rooted Android devices don't currently work with streaming, so we'll have to wait for someone to figure out a way around that first.

Android support has not been promised for the fall. More like late 2013 or early 2014. That rumor started by people misunderstanding what TiVo CEO Tom Rodgers said on the CNBC interview. He said the fall in regards to the stream but I believe he was referring to out of home streaming and not android support.

Android support has not been promised for the fall. More like late 2013 or early 2014. That rumor started by people misunderstanding what TiVo CEO Tom Rodgers said on the CNBC interview. He said the fall in regards to the stream but I believe he was referring to out of home streaming and not android support.

Yeah I guess it hasn't been "promised" but if you jump to 3:45 in this interview...

Can the Roamio BASIC stream to other Roamio/Premiere’s the same way existing Premiere’s can? I know it needs an external stream box to stream to mobile iOS devise but what about Roamio to Premiere? And can it handle copy once recordings.

Can the Roamio BASIC stream to other Roamio/Premiere’s the same way existing Premiere’s can? I know it needs an external stream box to stream to mobile iOS devise but what about Roamio to Premiere? And can it handle copy once recordings.

That's a different kind of streaming. That works with ALL Premiere units and Roamio units and can be used with all channels regardless of copy protection.

* Missing information about copying (not streaming) content and the associated restrictions.
* Also I seem to recall some annoyances about having to keep iOS App open while copy is happening else the download stops, but that may just be an general issue with iOS and multitasking.

You can stream everything within the home except Amazon downloads, no need to think through formats or transcoding. There is a work around somewhere on the forum for that as well. Shhh....

Just for completeness though, H.264 recordings don't show up as prohibited but they don't work with the Stream (currently), so it's not quite "everything". There are a few cable companies using H.264 for some channels and of course with pyTivo you can also get H.264 recordings on your TiVo as well.

Did TiVo include dial up only support? Sure seems like it as every time I am trying to stream I buffer like crazy. Yet it NEVER does it for Netflix or Amazon, just recorded shows. This stream is a waste of time with the buffering.

And no, it is NOT my ISP or anything on my end, as EVERY OTHER stream stuff works fine. I can stream to my iPad fine with netflix and amazon, yet use TiVo, I get buffering. He'll I might as well try to install real player, that didn't buffer as much as the TiVo.

Good job TiVo, you made me despise the roaming. I got it for streaming and feel I wasted my money

No. Unlike a Mini the Stream can not borrow a tuner from the host TiVo. If you select something from the live guide to watch it will actually start a recording of that show on your TiVo and then stream that recording. Once that show is over it will stop and you will have to manually delete the recording it created. There is no true live TV mode for the Stream.

Dan,
My TiVo Stream has been noisy since I bought it over 6 months ago. Really noisy when the room is quiet. Is this normal? What can be done to eliminate/lessen the noise? My latest attempt is placing a piece of really-soft-foam weatherstripping tape on each corner foot.

Also, I cannot find a spec that defines the normal operating temperature range. Mine varies from 37C-41C most of the time when the fan's not running, which is a lot of the time.

The noise is the fan. My standalone stream was always noisy too. I found that it was less noisy if I placed it on it's side, rather then on all four feet. But it would still spool up every now and then, even when I wasn't using it, and drive me nuts.